


Not a Capitulation

by Just_Another_Day



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Auguste (Captive Prince) Lives, Drama, Gen, Hostage Situations, Snark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-23
Updated: 2019-04-23
Packaged: 2020-01-24 08:25:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18567577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Just_Another_Day/pseuds/Just_Another_Day
Summary: Auguste takes Damen prisoner at Marlas instead of letting him pick up his sword. Now Laurent wants to see for himself the beast who tried to kill his brother.





	Not a Capitulation

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry to bombard you all with multiple gen/pre-relationship fics that never get to the meaty part, but that's what's been sitting in my WIP folder forever, so *shrug*. That's all I've got for you.

The boy might be accompanied by several armed guards, and Damen might have been firmly separated from him by the bars of the cell he'd been secured inside, but even so, Damen was still unsure why any responsible or sane adult in this fortress would have let this child – who could only be Prince Laurent, based on his bearing, appearance and age – anywhere near their supposedly savage captive. Damen assumed that Laurent must have snuck his way down here without his brother's knowledge. He'd probably hoped to get a glimpse of the 'barbarian' to satisfy the kind of morbid curiosity that Damen remembered experiencing himself when he'd been that age. The way Laurent stared at Damen through the bars like Damen was a caged leopard rather than a man did lend credence to that idea. 

Then again, it was also incomprehensible to Damen that Laurent had been brought south to Marlas at all. He was surely too young to have been useful enough to the war effort to justify the danger to him. Even if he'd been hidden safely (or as safely as possible under the circumstances) inside the walls of the fort itself the whole time, Damen could only interpret it as a sign of hubris on the Veretians' part. Much like the King of Vere riding out from his cover into the battle had surely been unjustified arrogance. Vere had paid for one. They were lucky things had gone well enough for them that they hadn't had to pay for the other. 

Unfortunately, Akielons so far hadn't been as successful at breaching the fort as they reportedly had been at taking advantage of King Aleron's exposure. And Damen couldn't imagine that his father would even try to forcibly take the fort now that Damen had been taken from the field and brought here. Unlike the Veretians, Akielos didn't make a habit of risking the lives of its royal men unnecessarily. 

Father would bargain for his return, just as Auguste had clearly intended when he'd had the better part of a dozen of his soldiers seize Damen once he'd been disarmed in their fight. Father would _hate_ doing so, but he would do it all the same. Delpha might be important to him (for good reason), but not more so than Damen was. The Veretians would have done well to prioritise the safety of their own princes that way.

Though Laurent didn't seem to think himself to currently be in any danger, as far as Damen could tell. If he had, he surely wouldn't have so mockingly declared, "You're not so impressive. I can't imagine why you thought you stood a chance against Auguste. And I heard you didn't even fight your capture. The rumours are that you submitted so easily because of cowardice. Just as I would expect of an Akielon."

Through gritted teeth, Damen said, "I didn't _submit_. I'm not some slave."

Laurent seemed momentarily surprised, probably at Damen's proficiency in his language. He recovered his haughty countenance quickly enough, though. "Of course not. Vere doesn't keep slaves. But you _are_ a prisoner, and justifiably so. You're a war criminal as far as we're concerned. And you might find yourself executed like a criminal soon enough if you're not careful."

"If your brother wanted me dead, he would have accomplished it better out on the field."

Laurent shrugged and pointed out, "Auguste let his good nature guide him when he didn't kill you like you would have killed him given the chance. But that was when he didn't have his advisors there with him in battle, reminding him of what's best for Vere."

"If you execute me now, like this, you'd be ensuring the war will continue indefinitely. My father would insist on avenging me, no matter what. You really think _that's_ what's best for your country, do you?" asked Damen. "Perhaps it's a good thing you're not destined for a crown yourself."

Damen wasn't sure whether Laurent bristled at the slight against his capacity to rule, or because of the implicit reminder at how they'd only really been a sword-stroke or two away from the Veretian crown being left to Laurent after all, had Damen prevailed in their fight instead of Auguste.

"I didn't say that's what _I_ thought," Prince Laurent said. "I'm not the one advising him. Though he might listen to me if I were inclined to argue for better conditions for you. So maybe you ought to address me with more respect."

"Should I?" Damen asked. "I thought the correct way to address you was as equals. I am a Prince as well, in case you've forgotten. Prisoner or not, I have no need to show deference to you."

"I said respect, not deference. Though trust an entitled Akielon not to recognise the difference."

"I'll show you exactly as much respect as you show me," Damen promised.

"Then I think your stay here will be rather unpleasant."

"As opposed to how it's been so far?"

When Laurent rolled his eyes, he looked every inch the entitled prince he'd accused Damen of being. He also looked very young.

Though not so young that Damen would just forgive his treatment as nothing more than an unavoidable consequence of youth. Damen would remember how this boy had lorded it over him just because he knew that Damen wasn't in a position to fight back.

Damen wondered if in a few years, when the boy was old enough, Damen would be in a position to fight Laurent the way he had Auguste. Damen imagined the result would be far more skewed in his favour then than it had been today. Part of him almost looked forward to that.

But he would have to get himself out of this situation first.

"I'm not interested in using you as some kind of intermediate to negotiate my position here. You can tell your brother that I'm waiting to speak to him, and only him," Damen said.

Laurent frowned. "I'm not a messenger boy."

"Then you're of no use to me, are you?"

Laurent's somewhat spiteful expression as he stormed away suggested that there was no chance at all he would pass Damen's message along to his brother. But the guards had heard Damen's words as well. He would bet that they would report back to their new King.

Alone now, Damen settled back against the wall (as much as one could 'settle' against hard stone) to wait.


End file.
